H eadlines
Teachers Transition to New Schools
E DUCATION
SASHA ROGELBERG | JE STAFF
BACK-TO-SCHOOL jitters
don’t just apply to students, but
also to teachers — especially
teachers making the switch to
new schools.

For Sarit Sade and Audrey
Kraus, both Philadelphia-
based teachers making their
debuts at new (for them, at
least) Jewish schools, transi-
tions can be challenging, but
equally rewarding.

Sade, 47, will teach Hebrew
at Jack M. Barrack Hebrew
Academy this year, a depar-
ture from teaching young
children at Center City Jewish
Preschool last year, as well
as past years of teaching at
Kellman Brown Academy
in Voorhees Township, New
Jersey, and Perelman Jewish
Day School.

“I felt that I need a little bit
of a change and a challenge,
and [to do] something that I’ve
never done before,” Sade said.

Unlike Sade, who has
taught in the Philadelphia area
for nine years, Kraus and her
family packed their lives into
boxes and made the trip from
Los Angeles to Philadelphia in
August. Though Kraus is leaving her
life out west as a general studies
teacher for students with
learning differences, coming to
Philadelphia is a homecoming
of sorts.

She will teach fifth graders
at Perelman — the same school
she attended from fourth-
through-sixth grade until
1979, when it was the Solomon
Schechter Day School. Having
lived in LA for 25 years,
she is making her return to
Philadelphia to be closer to
family. Though she has taught since
2014, Kraus, 54, didn’t expect
to become a teacher; origi-
nally she was a disability rights
lawyer and focused on special
education advocacy.

“I really saw firsthand how
students could be impacted by
great teachers,” she said.

While volunteering at her
children’s school, someone
suggested to Kraus that she
should apply for a teaching
fellowship. She did and
completed her teacher training
program in 2013.

Sade’s path to becoming a
teacher also came unexpectedly.

Audrey Kraus moved from Los
Angeles to become a fifth-grade
teacher at Perelman Jewish Day
School. Photo by Audrey Kraus
Sarit Sade, previously a teacher at Perelman Jewish Day School, will
teach Hebrew at the Jack M. Barrack Hebrew Academy.

Sade studied interior design in
college in Israel and moved to
Philadelphia after graduating,
and she completed an intern-
ship at a design firm in Old
City. Shortly afterward, she was
offered a position at the Israeli
Consulate in Philadelphia,
which she
immediately accepted.

“My first passion ever is my
country,” Sade said.

Sometime thereafter,
according to Sade, she had
an opportunity to teach and
hasn’t looked back since.

“I want to be surrounded
by kids, and I want to have
the opportunity to pass down
information and values,” Sade
said. “And just be around
that creativity and curiosity,
and the beauty that kids still
possess that’s not yet tainted
by life.”
Though the skills of her
previous career are probably
harder to apply to her lessons
than that of Kraus, Sade’s love
of her country and her Jewish
background drive her passion
for teaching.

“The new generation needs
to know our past and the story
of the Jews throughout history,
connecting to our ancestors
and the Torah,” Sade said.

Sade’s most important
teachers, she said, were her
parents, both educators
by trade. Her mother was a
teacher, and her father, a
principal; both of their careers
spanned nearly 40 years.

Now that Sade shares the
same profession, she has a
better understanding of her
parents. “​​I can see why my parents
stayed,” she said. “It truly is
worth it.”
Kraus still remembers her
sixth-grade teacher at Solomon
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10 AUGUST 19, 2021
JEWISH EXPONENT
Photo by Selah Maya Zighelboim
Schecter, Phyllis Fingerhood,
who went on to teach Kraus’
nephews. Fingerhood had a
passion for bird watching that
she shared with her students
and, to this day, Kraus owns
the pair of binoculars and field
guide she bought that year.

Kraus still appreciates
her teacher’s ability to build
a classroom community and
instill passion in her students.

Using the values with which
Fingerhood taught, Kraus
hopes to continue to connect
and truly listen to her students.

“It’s pretty important as a
teacher to be mindful of the
way you were taught, and also
be able to bring innovation and
new ideas and really connect to
the students who are in front
of you,” Kraus said. “Not just
teach to your own strengths
and what worked for you, but
be very aware of what works for
your students.”
Despite the threat of another
COVID-19 outbreak looming
this year, Kraus is ready for
her new beginning: “I found
that being in a classroom
and having my students’ best
educational interests in front
of me has kept me focused.” l
srogelberg@jewishexponent.com; 215-832-0741
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